This FAQ explains how data clean rooms have become essential infrastructure for retail media, enabling privacy-safe data collaboration, closed-loop measurement, and proof of performance as ad spend grows and marketers demand greater accountability.

2025 saw mergers, layoffs, and AI overhauls as the agency model fractured and reformed.

Holding company Publicis Groupe reported a strong Q3 2025, growing organic net revenues 5.7% YoY, above analyst growth expectations of 5.19%. The company now expects 2025 revenues to grow between 5% to 5.5%, up from its previous forecast of 4% to 5%. Publicis’ heavy AI push and performance-driven strategy means it is well-positioned to continue growing while rival agencies struggle to remain competitive amid economic turbulence.

Japan-based agency holding company Dentsu is considering selling its international business, ending its goal to compete against rivals Publicis and WPP. Selling its international business could allow Dentsu to reposition itself as a specialized player in its core market rather than stretching itself thin internationally where it can’t match competitors. The change could make the company more sustainable in the long run, but even if it focuses solely on Japan, rapid adoption of emerging technologies in the ad sector will still necessitate innovation.

The news: Publicis Groupe has won PayPal’s global media business, building on the holding company’s winning streak and proving to rivals that its momentum in securing major accounts shows no signs of slowing. WPP Media previously handled PayPal’s media account but resigned the account in April, citing the need to “pursue other opportunities,” per Ad Age. Our take: Publicis’ win of PayPal’s global media business underscores a growing advertiser shift toward integrated partnerships, where creative, media, and retail strategies merge to unlock greater performance and monetization potential.

Publicis strengthens AI and first-party data strategy: The Lotame acquisition enhances its identity solutions, adding 4 billion customer profiles and expanding Epsilon’s AI-powered ad targeting.

The free, ad-supported internet runs on consumer data. But privacy legislation is making it harder for advertisers to take advantage of it.

Learn how advertisers, publishers, and ad tech players operate in the programmatic marketplace that fuels over 90% of digital display ad spending.

Identity resolution is in a state of flux in the US advertising industry, with third-party browser cookies and mobile IDs being ushered out in the name of consumer privacy.

Despite uncertainty stemming from ongoing challenges in identity resolution, programmatic display ad spending is steadily taking on an ever-greater share of total US digital display ad spending.

As cookie alternatives proliferate, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is stepping in to provide order: The newly launched id-sources.json framework is meant to clarify which new IDs are being used by ad networks and publishers.

Although a growing percentage of ad spending around TV content is happening through addressable, programmatic, and connected TV channels, making advertising more accountable, holistic campaign metrics that cut across the linear and digital domains remain elusive.

Taboola buys Connexity: The merger will help Taboola's publisher clients tap into ecommerce dollars while also helping Connexity's retail clients diversify away from Amazon.

Here’s how publishers are developing and expanding their ecommerce monetization strategies, and how brands and retailers can partner with them to drive purchases in the affiliate channel.

The deprecation of the third-party cookie in Chrome will be significantly disruptive for publishers that monetize their sites with advertising. Here’s how web publishers are preparing for a future without third-party cookies.

Programmatic ad spending will account for 93.6% of total UK display ad spending this year, or £7.90 billion ($10.09 billion). Open exchanges, though, will account for a diminishing proportion of that total; spend declined 2.4% in 2020.

UK’s digital media and technology landscape is facing changes and challenges in 2020—including privacy, Brexit and more—which will impact UK digital marketers.

Advertisers crave first-party data, but they often struggle to make the most of it. In a survey of US digital marketers by Advertiser Perceptions and programmatic agency MightyHive, respondents said they were, on average, tapping into just 47% of their company’s first-party data potential.

Will the duopoly dominate in 2019? Will consumer privacy concerns challenge marketers’ efforts? This report explores these digital display trends and more.

Marketers are invested in accurately identifying their target audiences, but they often miss the mark.